What to Know
- Florida reported 8,892 new COVID-19 cases Monday, for a total of 432,747
- Another 77 coronavirus-related deaths of Florida residents were reported in the state
- Miami-Dade and Broward have now combined for more than 2,000 virus-related deaths
The slowdown in new Florida coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations continued through the weekend, according to figures released Monday by the state Department of Health.
The state reported 8,892 new cases — the smallest increase in 20 days — and the smallest increase in hospitalizations in two weeks, with 268. Florida has 432,747 COVID-19 cases total.
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Another 77 Florida residents were confirmed to have died COVID-related deaths, according to the figures released Monday. The death toll increase reported Monday and Sunday were the lowest numbers in two weeks. Newly confirmed death numbers tend to be relatively low over weekends.
The virus-related death toll in the state now stands at 5, 931.
But even looking at seven-day averages, it appears the impact of the virus has leveled off across the state, although it remains at relatively high levels.
The share of all tests coming back positive was 15.4 percent over last week. When retests of people who already tested positive are removed, the new-case positivity rate fell to 11.9 percent over the last seven days.
Of all cases reported Monday, the percent positivity was at 15.10%, slightly higher than Sunday's 14.02%. For new cases reported Monday, the percent positive was 11.39%, also slightly higher than Sunday's 11.06%.
Both of those weeklong rates are nearly a full percentage point lower than they were one week ago, but still indicative of relatively high prevalence in the community.
The results released Monday come from nearly 89,000 tests. Overall, more than 3,436,000 people have been tested in Florida, with an overall percent positive of 12.59%.
The median age of people who tested positive in Monday's results was 43, slightly above the average age of the past two weeks.
In South Florida, Miami-Dade County's case total rose Monday by more than 2,500, to 107,315, and the county's virus-related deaths rose by 16 to 1,404.
Miami-Dade's New Normal Dashboard showed the county's positivity rate Monday was at 18.1%, slightly below the county's two-week average of 19.4%.
Figures showed COVID-19-related 911 calls were also trending down in the county over the past week.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said he's cautiously optimistic after the latest figures were released.
"It appears that we have weathered the big surge. We are now at the crest, and it looks like maybe it has topped off, and started to go down," Gimenez said.
In Broward County, there were 50,784 COVID-19 cases reported, along with 607 virus-related deaths. The county reported a percent positive Monday of 13.3%.
Palm Beach County had 30,958 COVID-19 cases and 758 virus-related deaths, while Monroe County had 1,145 cases and six deaths.
Florida surpassed New York over the weekend as the state with the second-most coronavirus cases in the U.S., trailing only California.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Miami Monday to discuss coronavirus vaccine clinical trials.
At a roundtable discussion with Pence at the University of Miami, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said visits to emergency rooms for coronavirus-like illnesses were at their lowest levels since mid-June. He added that the positivity rate was slowly declining and the state's illness fatality rate remained low.
"Our case fatality rate here in Florida is one of the lowest of anywhere in the country, particularly for a state of this size, about 1.3%," DeSantis said.
